Various forms of hydrogenated nitrile rubbers have recently been introduced into the marketplace. Hydrogenated nitrile rubber has the advantage of being resistant to oxidative degradation at high temperature, as well as being resistant to corrosive environments such as acid environments. These materials have found utility in the manufacture of fan belts, seals, gaskets, and hoses in increasingly small and hot-running car engines.
One process for the production of hydrogenated latex polymers, particularly hydrogenated latex rubber, utilizes hydrazine and an unsaturated polymer as the starting materials. This process is more particularly described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,950, assigned to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. However, the product produced in accordance with the process described in the '950 patent suffers from the disadvantage of containing residual unreacted hydrazine. This residual hydrazine is considered undesirable from an environmental and/or toxicity standpoint.
In view of the above, it would be highly desirable to provide a process for the elimination and/or reduction of the residual hydrazine in the hydrogenated polymer product mixture.